Neighbours mourn drowned couple: 'She was like family'

KNOWN as a hilarious person, Liloutee "Cindy" Bhagwandeen visited one of her neighbours last Wednesday night as she regularly did and had the family laughing because of her bubbly personality.

On Thursday afternoon when news broke that Bhagwandeen, 52, and her boyfriend Cliff Walker, 37, drowned in the sea in Blanchisseuse, residents initially did not believe it. Bhagwandeen’s neighbour Mala "Shorty" Singh said the news was devastating.

"Cindy was liming here by me on Wednesday night and had us laughing. She was such a nice person. We did not even know she had gone to the beach until I get a call. I did not believe it at first. Cindy was a people’s person; she was like a sister to me. She was my best friend and loved to help others," Singh said.

She lived a stone’s throw away at Spring Hill Avenue, Tarodale Gardens, near Ste Madeleine. Bhagwandeen, a mother of two from a previous relationship, worked as a cleaner at the Marabella market. Walker, a private for-hire driver of Cocoyea in San Fernando, had been living with Bhagwandeen at Tarodale for the past year.

According to reports, the couple went to a beach lime in Blanchisseuse on Thursday (Indian Arrival Day) and at about 1.45 pm, Bhagwandeen got into difficulties while bathing. Walker tried to save her, but they went under the water. People pulled them out but were unable to resuscitate them. A District Medical Officer later pronounced them dead.

On Saturday, Singh described Walker as a "cool guy" who took good care of Bhagwandeen. "I cannot say anything bad about them. She was not a strong swimmer as far as I know. They were a nice couple. Right now, I am preparing to cook something for the wake later."

Autopsies are expected to be done at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope on Monday.